Donald Trump to Announce New Strategy on Afghanistan in Major Speech

Donald Trump will announce his decision on America's strategy in Afghanistan on Monday night in an address to US troops and the nation almost 16 years after the war began, according to The Guardian.

The US president will "provide an update on the path forward for America's engagement in Afghanistan and South Asia" in an address to be delivered at 9pm ET from the military base at Fort Myer, southwest of the capital, the White House said in a statement.

Trump gathered top security officials on Friday at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland to weigh his options in the grueling conflict, saying afterwards that "many decisions" had been made.

Wary of international involvements but eager for progress in the drawn-out Afghan war, the Trump administration had originally promised a new plan by mid-July.

Trump was said to be dissatisfied by initial proposals to add a few thousand more troops in the country, and advisers were studying an expanded strategy for the broader South Asian region, including Pakistan.

The decision comes after the departure from the White House on Friday of Steve Bannon, Trump's firebrand chief strategist, a nationalist who was said to be disinclined to see US forces more deeply mired in the troubled region.

Trump's defense secretary, Jim Mattis, confirmed in Amman, Jordan on Sunday that the administration had agreed on a new strategy for Afghanistan after "rigorous" debate, but refused to provide any details about the decision.

"I'm very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous, and did not go in with a preset condition in terms of what questions could be asked and what decisions could be made," he said.

"Everyone who had equity was heard," he said, including budget...